Neighbors: Introduce yourself to your neighbors

Here I go again, thinking about what it means to be a neighbor. I remember a time when people knew their neighbors. They spoke with them, sat next to them in church, ran into them in the grocery store, talked over the hedges about their days and even had cookouts with them.

Now, it seems most of us wouldn’t know some of our neighbors if we ran into them. Or, we find just enough time to look up and say “hello” as we pass.

Many of us have more “friends” on Facebook than we can count, yet we only know their names and have never met in person.

How many of your next-door neighbors’ names do you know? How many times have you stopped to chat and ended up finding out a little about them?

Please don’t isolate yourself by spending all of these beautiful summer days on the computer checking out what your newest friend had for lunch. Instead, get out and make some connections with those who live right outside your front door. Make a new friend — someone you can sit on the front porch with on a hot summer evening, enjoy the gentle breeze, and reminisce about the way it used to be. Before you know it, you won’t have to say “I remember the way it used to be.”

LUCY FAGELLA OF LUCIA POTTERY in Greenfield was recently featured in the “Made in America” section of the July issue of Country Living magazine. Lucy’s homemade ceramic citrus juicer was chosen from her kitchen collection.

In the section, one artist or crafter from every state was represented.

CONWAY’S FOURTH OF JULY PARADE will be on Friday on the Masonic Common. Participants will gather at 9:30 a.m. and the parade will begin at 10. It will travel along Main Street to the library, where Jack Ramey will play the keyboard. The parade will be held rain or shine.

BUCKLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, a former schoolhouse that now houses three floors of artifacts and town records at 20 Upper St. in Buckland Center, will hold an open house on July 13 from 2 to 4 p.m.

There will also be an open house at the Wilder Homestead, which is a furnished 1775 saltbox with five fireplaces, a 1779 English barn with antique barn loom and a shoemaker shop at 129 Route 112 in Buckland.

SHELBURNE FALLS TROLLEY MUSEUM will hold a Covered Bridge Barbecue Dinner in the Lyonsville section of Colrain on July 19 inside the Arthur A. Smith Covered Bridge as part of Trolleyfest. The dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. The dinner will be catered by Cliff’s Smoking Backyard Barbecue.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for members and $15 or children under 13. Make reservations by calling 413-625-9443 or email: membership@sftm.org. You can also mail a check to: SFTM, P.O. Box 272, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370.

THE WHITE EAGLE SOCIETY OF GREENFIELD will celebrate its 100th anniversary on July 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at its picnic grounds on Plain Road. The celebration begins with an 11:30 a.m. polka mass with Rev. Stanley Aksamit as celebrant. It will be followed by a chicken barbecue dinner at 1 p.m. Eddie Forman Orchestra of Hadley will be providing music from 2 to 6 p.m.

The event is open to the public, but tickets for the dinner are $14 and must be purchased in advance at Butynski Farm Stand, Carol Forman, Dottie Morgan, Marcy Hoynoski or club officers. Deadline for ticket purchase is July 16.

I WANT TO SEND OUT A “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to Magpie Woodfired Pizzeria on Bank Row in Greenfield. It’s the pizzeria’s fourth birthday and it’s celebrating with ice cream and would like you to be there. Stop by for a free scoop of Wagon Wheel birthday cake ice cream all through July as a “thank you” for being a dedicated customer.

OUR NEIGHBOR KEN SONGER of Orange called recently to say his daughter Jocelyn is currently hiking the 2,663-mile Pacific Crest Trail, which extends from the Mexican to Canadian borders. Last year, she hiked the Appalachian Trail.

THE MAHAR CLASS OF 2014 has kept its tradition going — its senior project was recently installed in a hallway at the school. The project was a collaboration under the direction of art teacher Linda Ganson. The installation includes more than 60 pieces of art designed and created by students and sits on both sides of the hallway adjacent to the theater. It’s the 10th class installation since 2004. Find your way over to Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School on Route 122 in Orange.

IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF Greenfield High School Class of 1949, please contact Joanne Teague at 413-774-5320 to express interest. She would like to start planning a 65th class reunion. Joanne said she would like any classmates who live out West and read The Recorder online to contact Janet William in California at 415-332-2886.

To contact Anita Fritz, a staff reporter at The Recorder, send an email to: franklincountyneighbors@gmail.com or call 413-772-0261, ext. 280. You can also reach Anita on Facebook at Anita’s Neighbors. Information to be included in Neighbors may also be sent to: neighbors@recorder.com up to noon two days before you want it to run.